Is The Yahoo! Redesign A New Opportunity

Businesses invariably go through many changes over their shelf life. That includes search engines. Yahoo! recently changed how its search engine results pages look. But the question is, does that equate to improvement in the product, and if so, will it improve SEO and your chances of ranking better in Yahoo!’s search results?

I say, not so fast. Slow down. Let’s get a handle on this here emotional ride.

All they did was change the look. If you look at the actual search results, they appear to be in the same positions in both the before and the after image. That tells me that the algorithm hasn’t changed. The page might have a redesign, but the SEO results are the same.

That’s a big distinction. I’m not saying Yahoo!’s search results need improvement, but I am saying that just because the company changed the design of its search results pages, it doesn’t mean that you are going to start ranking higher or lower.

Of course, I think it’s reasonable to expect that Yahoo! will continue to improve its product. And I mean beyond design.

The big question for Yahoo! at this point is, How can the company ensure that it becomes more competitive in search while increasing its revenues? Anyone care to tackle that question?